1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying a hair treatment fluid composition such as a dye. The present invention more particularly pertains to applying a hair treatment composition to discreet strands of hair.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
The use of applicators for applying dye and other hair treatment fluid compositions to discreet strands of hair is known in the art. This type of applicator is distinguished from applicators used to deposit a composition on the entire mane, and is hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cstrand applicatorxe2x80x9d for convenience. Strand applicators are useful for depositing a composition to change the color of discreet strands of hair, in contrast with the primary color of the mane, thus providing a streaked or highlighted appearance. Strand applicators are also useful for depositing dye onto discreet strands of gray hair to reduce the contrast between the gray hair and the adjacent mane. Strand applicators may also be used to apply a bleach, a hair nutrient or other fluid composition to discreet strands.
The construction of strand applicators used in the art generally falls into two categories, the pen-style applicator and the comb-style applicator. The pen-style strand applicators include a reservoir containing a wick made from an absorbent material such as hard felt. The wick is positioned inside the reservoir and extends outside the reservoir at the coating end of the applicator, thus drawing fluid from inside the reservoir to enable controlled contact with the strand of hair. Examples of pen-style applicators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,802; U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,226; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,902.
Comb-style strand applicators include a plurality of parallel members extending from the coating end of a reservoir to provide even coating of the strand of hair with the fluid contained in reservoir. Examples of comb-style strand applicators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,437; U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,866; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,480.
The aforementioned patents disclose strand applicators that require the user to separate the discreet strand of hair from the surrounding mane during treatment in order to restrict deposition of dye or other composition to the discreet strand of hair. Users typically isolate the strand of hair from the mane by lifting the strand of hair away from the mane or by placing a non-absorbent sheet between the strand of hair and the adjacent mane. It should be appreciated that such measures for isolating a strand of hair during treatment prove especially cumbersome when treating very short hair.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to provide a strand applicator constructed to shield the adjacent mane from deposition of the hair treatment composition while the composition is being deposited onto a discreet strand of hair. It would be further desirable for such a strand applicator to provide even deposition of a hair treatment composition to the strand of hair.
The device of the present invention is a hair treatment fluid applicator for depositing a hair treatment fluid composition to a discreet strand of hair while shielding the adjacent mane against deposition.
The present applicator comprises a container having a front side, a back side, an upper side, and a lower side with the sides positioned longitudinally between an enclosed proximal end and an enclosed distal end, an inner surface defining a reservoir for containing the hair treatment fluid composition, and an outer surface. A section of the outer surface disposed transversely across the front side near the distal end is indented laterally toward the distal end to form a xe2x80x9chook-shapedxe2x80x9d coating tip defining a transverse channel disposed between the front side and the back side and connecting the upper side with the lower side. The transverse channel is adapted to receive a cross-section of a strand of hair. The container has at least one orifice extending from the reservoir to the transverse channel to allow the hair treatment fluid to flow from the reservoir into the transverse channel. In an alternative embodiment of the present applicator, instead of the outer surface being indented, the distal end of the container is bent backwards toward the proximal end to form the hook-shaped coating tip and transverse channel.